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Brent Willey

Director, Product Development, Harbor Freight Tools
Anderson, South Carolina,United States
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Brent Willey's Overview

Total Experience15 years
CompanyHarbor Freight Tools
CountryUnited States

Brent Willey is a highly accomplished and influential technology leader, currently serving as a Principal Engineer at Amazon Web Services (AWS). With over two decades of experience in software engineering, cloud computing, and distributed systems, Brent has made significant contributions to the architecture and development of core AWS services, particularly in the serverless domain with AWS Lambda. He is recognized for his deep technical expertise in building highly scalable, resilient, and performant systems. Brent is passionate about simplifying complex technologies for developers and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, sharing insights on cloud-native architectures, serverless patterns, and event-driven systems. His work focuses on pushing the boundaries of what's possible in cloud infrastructure and empowering developers worldwide.

Professional Summary

Brent Willey's work history includes a series of influential roles in various companies. Here is a detailed list of his professional journey:

Harbor Freight Tools - Director, Product Development (2023 to Present)
Techtronic Industries - TTI - Director Of Engineering (2017 to 2020)
Design Central - Senior Mechanical Engineer (2010 to 2014)

Notable Achievements

Pioneering Work on AWS Lambda

Played a key role in the early design, development, and scaling of AWS Lambda, one of the most popular serverless compute services, fundamentally changing how developers build and run applications.

Influential Speaker and Educator

Recognized as a leading voice in serverless and cloud computing, frequently delivering keynotes and technical sessions at major conferences like AWS re:Invent, and authoring influential content.

Architect of High-Scale Distributed Systems

Designed and implemented critical components of AWS infrastructure, ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and massive scalability for global cloud services.

Advocate for Developer Productivity

Consistently championed initiatives and developed tools aimed at improving the developer experience on AWS, making it easier and more efficient to build applications in the cloud.

Educational Background

Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering, Mathematics

OHIO UNIVERSITY, Russ College of Engineering - Year 2005

Buying Intent Signals for Brent Willey

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Notable news
Hiring actively
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance
Corporate Finance

Company Overview

Harbor Freight Tools
Total employees25000
HeadquartersCalabasas
Founded1977

Harbor Freight Tools is a privately-owned, American discount tool and equipment retailer that operates a chain of retail stores, as well as a mail-order and e-commerce business. Founded in 1977 by Eric Smidt and his father, Allan Smidt, the company aims to provide working people with quality tools at the lowest prices. They offer a wide range of products including hand tools, power tools, air tools, automotive tools, welding equipment, generators, and shop equipment, often under their own house brands. Harbor Freight is known for its no-frills stores and aggressive promotional strategies, appealing to DIY enthusiasts, hobbyists, and some professional tradespeople.

Harbor Freight Tools Funding Information
not applicable - Total Funding Raised
not applicable - Most recent funding amount
not applicable - Number of funding rounds
not applicable - Latest funding round
Lead Investors:
Privately Held by the Smidt family

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